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+8 votes

Could predictive policing using big data be subjected to bias?

asked in DATA360_Spring2019 by (1 point)

1 Answer

+4 votes

Like all things in life, big data usage is subject to bias. Especially in the case of using data to police areas of high crime, that are also high poverty. While the usage of such data is not meant to be biased, it has uncovered an ugly truth in human nature.

answered by (1 point)
+1

There is probably also bias in what crimes are prosecuted (or even reported). Are so-called "white color crimes", like insider trading or tax evasion, reported/prosecuted as frequently as robbing convenience stores? Are all drug crimes handled similarly, or are some drug offenses more socially acceptable than others even if they are both illegal?

All of these prior/historical biases will also be encoded into a predictive system, if that system is trained on the data of the past, which includes such bias...

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